


Virgin Territory

by Raspberry_Blond



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-15
Updated: 2015-01-15
Packaged: 2018-03-07 15:09:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3176615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raspberry_Blond/pseuds/Raspberry_Blond
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Julian knows something's up with Garak -- and it's not what he wants to be up with Garak.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Virgin Territory

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written for a Garak!virginity challenge posed by gul_obsidian on Livejournal

The doors to Garak's Clothiers had barely closed behind Dr. Julian Bashir before the proprietor himself emerged from the back, his professional shopkeeper's expression at the ready. Julian noticed that when Garak realized who his "customer" was, the _at your service_ smile dimmed a little and was replaced with a grin that reached the Cardassian's remarkable eyes.  
  
"Dr. Bashir, good afternoon!"   
  
"Garak." Julian nodded gravely. "Are you busy at the moment? Do you have customers, in the changing room perhaps?"  
  
"Sadly, no." Garak spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "Business has been remarkably slow. You're the first person to walk through these doors today, in fact!"  
  
"I see. So there's no reason at all, then, that you don't have time to speak with me." Julian's voice was fraught with tension.   
  
Garak's smile dropped like a pair of forgotten trousers.

"Talk?"  
  
"Yes, Garak. _Talk_." Julian felt his voice starting to tremble and he fought for calm. "Maybe we can begin with just what the bloody hell happened last night?"  
  
"I'm not entirely sure I know what you -"  
  
"Come off it, Garak! I'm no mood for misdirection, innuendo or veiled hints today!" Julian was breathing heavily. "I'm not a child. If you don't wish to continue seeing me romantically, I'd appreciate if it you'd just say so and stop nittering about!"  
  
Garak squinted at him a moment before raising his voice to say: "Computer: Engage continuous external lock. Authorization Garak Theta Three-One-Nine-Seven."  
  
Julian let his breath out slowly. Assured complete privacy now, he had hopes that he could get some straight answers from the elusive Cardassian. Even answers that just might break his heart into tiny pieces.

"Well? I'm waiting."  
  
"You have me at a loss, Doctor. I'm not entirely certain what you are waiting _for_." The other man's voice was chilly. "Obviously I've offended you to the point that you believe I no longer wish an intimate association with you. I can't think of what transpired between us last night that would lead you to such a conclusion."  
  
"Well, let's see ... we have a lovely dinner at the Akamarian restaurant ... a stroll along the Promenade ... we return to my quarters for Sulean cordials ... I suggest you spend the night ... and you bolt with excuses about having to sign an invoice for a shipment of Bajoran broadcloth!"  
  
Garak tilted his head. "Doctor, I _did_ have to find that freighter captain before he left the station lest he invoice me again for the same merchandise. It has happened before."  
  
"And you just _had_ to do this at 25:00?" Julian's voice was incredulous. "And not return? I waited up for you for two hours, and you weren't responding to my comm."  
  
"You had made it clear that you hoped to go to bed," said Garak. "I assumed you were already asleep. And, as I think I may have mentioned before, I turn off the comm in my quarters after 23:00. Any message relayed after that hour can't be good news."  
  
The doctor regarded Garak in silence for several long seconds. He felt suddenly bone-weary and defeated and he grit his teeth against a wave of sadness and helplessness that lodged in his throat and threatened to choke him.  
  
"I should have known getting answers from you would be a pointless exercise," he said softly. "I shouldn't have bothered."  
  
A flash of pain crossed the cornflower eyes. "Doctor -"  
  
Julian turned his back on Garak, striding toward the exit.

"Unlock the door, Garak. Else, I'll contact security and tell Odo I'm being held here against my will."   
  
"Doc - Julian, wait."  
  
He halted almost in mid-step. Damn him, Garak had done it. Had hit on the one thing he could say to get him to stop. Garak had called him _Julian_.  
  
Even through nearly two months of dating, Garak had only used his first name a handful of times, and Julian had cherished each instance. He'd hoped to hear his name in that sensual mouth more and more, had imagined doing things to the older man's body that would make him whimper, shout, squeal his name. OK, maybe not "squeal," but definitely the other two and then some.  
  
As Julian stood contemplating this, the voice pursued him, hope threaded in the words.  
  
"Don't go. You are right. You are owed an explanation for what I acknowledge was regrettable behavior last night."  
  
Julian didn't move another step but he kept his back turned. "I might be interested in hearing this explanation, once you've unlocked the door."  
  
There was a short pause, and then Garak directed the computer to release the external lock. Julian heard the subtle click that indicated he could leave any time he liked and only then did he turn to face the Cardassian.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Garak inhaled and let his breath out in a slow gust.

"You are incorrect in your assumption that my actions last night indicated any reticence to continue or any unhappiness on my part. The past six weeks have been among the happiest of my life."  
  
The doctor felt his stomach flutter but he held himself aloof, not wanting to show Garak how quickly he was breaking through his anger.

"I'm glad to hear that Garak, but it makes what happened last night even more baffling to me."  
  
The tailor leaned on his sales counter, his head slightly bowed. "Last night was -- well, I was not expecting you to have that request of me quite so ... quickly."  
  
Julian's eyes snapped open wide and he suddenly felt like a lecher. Good lord, had he trespassed on some long-held Cardassian ideal when it came to relationships? Maybe Cardassians had some minimum amount of time that they waited before indulging with a lover?  
  
"Oh, I - I didn't know." Julian twisted his hands nervously. "Elim, you should have just told me that it was too soon. I would have understood and respected that. I'm 31 years old, not some hormone-driven adolescent."  
  
Garak gave him an odd look. "I'm not sure you understand. I didn't mean it for my sake. I only meant that I had hoped to have my research completed before you intimated that you wanted to engage in _those_ activities."  
  
"Research?" Julian gawked at him. "What research?"  
  
"Research on the typical practices and rituals of human sexuality, of course, specifically sexual congress between males," Garak said, looking at Julian as if he'd grown two heads. "I didn't relish the idea of fumbling uselessly around in our first liaison. I thought it would be prudent to have some idea of how your species conducted itself during intimate moments."  
  
Julian felt a smile breaking through and a sense of relief flooding his entire body. Of course. This was a former Obsidian Order agent he was involved with. "Research" was one of his specialties.  
  
"Elim, I'm touched that you'd spend time doing that, but, not to put too fine a point on it, you are currently romantically involved with a human male. You could have just _asked_ me anything you wanted to know. Or, better still, you could have just let me show you." He grinned, wishing now that he hadn't asked Garak to disengage the privacy lock. "That is the best part about becoming intimate with a lover, figuring out what exactly they like and what gives them pleasure. Wouldn't you agree?"  
  
Garak's expression was puzzling. If Julian didn't know better, he'd say the tailor looked abashed. He mumbled something that the universal translator couldn't quite catch.  
  
"What was that Elim?"  
  
Garak's head dropped back and he seemed to be focusing much of his attention to his ceiling tiles.  
  
"I said, 'I wouldn't know.'"  
  
"What?" Julian was mystified. "Wouldn't know _what_?"  
  
The ceiling tiles still had the Cardassian's undivided attention. "What is preferable when becoming intimate with a new lover."  
  
The doctor chewed his bottom lip. The words were straightforward enough, but what the devil could Garak mean -  
  
Julian's breath hitched. Wait. _Wait_. Was Garak saying ... was he implying ... could it even be possible ...?  
  
"Elim," began Julian slowly. "Do you mean to say that you, ah, _never_ have -"  
  
Garak's head came down. "Yes."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Yes. As in no." He tugged at his tunic. "I never have."  
  
Julian's mind spun. "With ... with anyone?"  
  
"With anyone." Garak's smile was void of any mirth whatsoever. "Are you disappointed, Doctor? Disgusted? Dismayed?"  
  
Julian could hear the man trying to mask something painful in his voice and Bashir went to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "No, no and no. I am ... surprised, Elim. I thought, well, surely on Cardassia, or perhaps on Bajor -"  
  
"On Bajor? No. Unlike a _certain_ Gul of our acquaintance, I don't find Bajorans sexually enticing in the least," said Garak, making no move to dislodge Julian's hand. "As for my time on Cardassia, well, I grew up in a very restricted environment. It was all schooling for me until I was a young man and went into ... my chosen line of work. There was no time for dalliances of that sort, and as I became more ... seasoned in that profession, the idea of a lover remained that -- just an idea."  
  
"Ah, Elim." The doctor ran his hand over the pattern of scales at the nape of Garak's neck, delighting in the man's involuntary hiss of pleasure. "I feel like a proper fool. Here you were trying to prepare yourself for me, when it should have been the other way around."  
  
"Oh? How do you mean?"  
  
"You will be giving me the far greater gift," said Julian with a smile before leaning in to kiss the gray lips. "You've gone without for this long, and I would not want to disappoint."  
  
"I don't think that will be a concern, if what I've learned to this point is any indication," said Garak with a real smile this time. "I am looking forward to putting what I've gleaned into practice, when the time is right and my research is complete."  
  
"Of course."   
  
"I will make it worth the wait." Garak wound his fingers in the dark hair and pulled the doctor's face close to his. " _Julian_."  
  
Julian found himself being kissed to within an inch of his very life. Pulling away, he needed a few seconds to remember where he was.   
  
"How ... how much research do you have left?"  
  
"Not very much. The final datarods arrived yesterday. I estimate another two days will get me where I need to be."  
  
Two days. Fifty-two hours. Julian knew he'd feel every second of them as they dragged on and he'd be leaning quite a bit on the "cold" setting on his showers in the morning.   
  
"When you're, ah, done the research, would you want to ..."  
  
"Ah, I've already anticipated you," said Garak, holding up a hand. "I've reserved a holosuite. Rom finally has them in working order again, and I was able to _persuade_ him to put me at the top of the list."  
  
"Whatever you'd like, Elim," said Julian. He'd just as soon deflower Garak in his quarters, but he supposed this was a special case and as such deserved a special setting. "I'm sure that it will be a wonderful night."  
  
"Unforgettable," Garak agreed. "Now, Doctor, I really should return to work. I have three orders for dresses in the Hartvin wrap style, and the pleats have to be just so."  
  
"Right." Julian grinned. "Dinner tonight, then? I promise to have you in bed before 23:00. In _your_ bed," he added at Garak's look. "I mean ... you _know_ what I mean."  
  
"I never tire of putting that expression on your face," said Garak with a chuckle. "Shall we say 21:00? I do want to get a bit of research in."  
  
Julian felt his face burn. Yes, their date in the holosuites would be unforgettable indeed. "I'll see you then."   
  
He walked out of the tailor's shop and back to the Infirmary with a light step, whistling.  
  


* * *

  
  
Garak fondly watched his beloved doctor leave and breathed a sigh of relief when he was out of sight. That had gone over better than he'd expected. During the course of his early research into general human sexual practices, Garak had been dismayed to note that virginity, once prized in human cultures, had become less of an asset as time marched on until it became almost a slur and point of ridicule. Perhaps it was Julian's innately caring nature that prevented him from reacting poorly; Garak would not have been surprised.  
  
The Cardassian was looking forward to what was to come, though much of what he'd read was somewhat foreign and exotic to his eyes. Humans, especially human males, seemed to have quite a lot going on in that regard. But the last pieces of the puzzle had finally arrived and Garak was confident that once he'd assimilated that information, his lack of total experience would not be so glaring.  
  
He patted the pocket where several holovideo datarods rested, thinking about how much he'd had to pay Quark to ensure their delivery, though he thought the Ferengi seemed suspiciously happy to help him, assuring him that the information in question was top-shelf and indispensible for understanding "what hu-mans like to do together." He'd even thrown in an extra rod -- for being such a good customer, he'd said. Garak had to agree that seeing visual representations incorporating some of the activities he'd read about would add the finishing touches to his tutelage.  
  
Garak only wished that the holovids had slightly less ludicrous titles. "Bang the Drummer Slowly," "Missionary Impossible" and "Raiders of the Lost Arse" seemed odd names for serious scholarly study, but if those holovideos, as promised, represented what generally went on between human males, he was sure the doctor would appreciate his diligence.  
  
end


End file.
